The Obstacle is the Way: The Ancient Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage

We give up too easily. With a simple change of attitude, what seem like insurmountable obstacles become once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Ryan Holiday, who dropped out of college at nineteen to serve as an apprentice to bestselling 'modern Machiavelli' Robert Greene and is now a media consultant for billion-dollar brands, draws on the philosophy of the Stoics to guide you in every situation, showing that what blocks our path actually opens one that is new and better. If the competition threatens you, it's time to be fearless, to display your courage. An impossible deadline becomes a chance to show how dedicated you are. And as Ryan discovered as Director of Marketing for American Apparel, if your brand is generating controversy - it's also potentially generating publicity. The Stoic philosophy - that what is in the way, is the way - can be applied to any problem: it's a formula invented more than 2,000 years ago, whose effectiveness has been proven in battles and board rooms ever since. From Barack Obama's ability to overcome obstacles in his election races, to the design of the iPhone, the stoic philosophy has helped its users become world-beaters.

Product Information

In business and marketing, Ryan Holiday has done it all, seen it all, and now he's here to show you ... the way. A modern guru who shows the way to turn problems into opportunities.

Reviews

A book for the bedside of every future - and current - leader in the world. -- Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power and Mastery Ryan Holiday is part Machiavelli, part Ogilvy ... this whiz kid is the secret weapon you've never heard of. -- Tim Ferriss * The 4-Hour Work Week * [The book that's] turning the entrepreneurs and the moguls into hard-wired stoics * The Times * An absolute must-read. A kind of user's manual for life, you will turn to it time and time again and learn to tear through any obstacle and resolve any conflict. -- Jimmy Soni, managing editor of Huffington Post, author of Rome's Last Citizen The Obstacle is the Way decants in concentrated form the timeless techniques for self-mastery as employed to world-conquering effect by philosophers and men of action from Alexander the Great to Marcus Aurelius to Steve Jobs. Follow these precepts and you will revolutionize your life. As Mr Holiday writes, "It's simple, it's just not easy." Read this book! -- Steven Pressfield, bestselling author of 'The War of Art and Gates of Fire' Praise for Trust Me, I'm Lying: 'A playbook for the dark arts of exploiting the media -- Robert Greene * The 48 Laws of Power * An astonishing, disturbing book * Financial Times *

Author description

Ryan Holiday is a media strategist for notorious clients like Tucker Max and Dov Charney, and worked on the publicity campaign for Tim Ferriss's The 4-Hour Work Week. After dropping out of college at nineteen, he went on to advise bestselling authors and multi-platinum musicians. He is the Director of Marketing at American Apparel and his strategies are used as case studies by Twitter, YouTube and Google. His first book, Trust Me I'm Lying was a Wall Street Journal bestseller. He currently lives in New Orleans.